Brownie Wise — The Marketing Genius You’ve Never Heard Of

Tupperware has been in the news this week after announcing it was on the verge of going of out business. Its reliance on home-based selling — Tupperware Parties — was upended during the pandemic. And the product itself is seen as out-of-touch. Despite a recent agreement with Target, the future is bleak for the 77-year-old company.

Tupperware was founded by chemist Earl Tupper who wanted change plastic from a military-only solution and bring it into homes after World War II. His original product, called the “Wonder Bowl” would change the future of food storage at home.

But Tupper had a problem — no one understood how to use his new solution, despite its low price and high quality. He was a chemist, not a marketer.

Enter Brownie Wise, a single mom who brought her marketing and networking skills and put them to work. She started holding what she called “Patio Parties,” ultimately hiring other women to hold them with their friends and neighbors.

These get-togethers allowed women (they were all women in the late 1940s) to see the bowl in action and learn how to “burp” it for a tight seal. Sales skyrocketed. In 1950, Tupper hired Wise as his VP of Marketing, an unheard-of title for a woman at that time.

Wise soon became the face of Tupperware; she was good at it and Tupper didn’t want to be out front. She was the first woman to appear on the cover of Business Week. Despite her contributions to the success of the company, Wise never had a formal contract and held no equity in the company she helped build.

In 1958 Tupper and the board of directors fired Wise. They wanted to sell Tupperware and cash out, and they were afraid that a company with a woman running sales and marketing would be worth less. Wise took them to court and finally settled on a severance that amounted to about one year’s salary.

It took nearly 60 years for Tupperware to officially recognize Brownie Wise as the driving force behind the company’s growth. Many other companies owe her a debt of gratitude as well: Mary Kay Cosmetics, Pampered Chef, and LuLaRoe are just a few of them.

There are numerous lessons to be taken from the history of Tupperware and where it is today. The alchemy of the actual product and the marketing approach changed the post-war world for a couple of generations that wasn’t seen for many years to come.

Brownie Wise was never appreciated — or compensated — for her contributions. In today’s world, her name would be up there with the late Katie Cotton of Apple.

Never assume your company is looking out for your best interests, no matter what your contribution to its success. If you don’t have it in writing — and sometimes even if you do — you can’t count on being compensated for your time and talent.

I am willing to bet the current leadership at Tupperware would pay nearly any amount to find another Brownie Wise. Maybe they can ask ChatGPT.